1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scintillator panel and radiation image sensor used for medical X-ray photography and the like.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, X-ray photosensitive films have been used for medical and industrial X-ray photography. However, radiation imaging systems using radiation detectors have come into widespread use owing to advantages in convenience and retention of photographic results. In such a radiation imaging system, pixel data based on 2D radiation is acquired as an electrical signal by the radiation detector, and the signal is processed by the processor and displayed on the monitor.
As a conventional, typical radiation detector, a radiation detector having a structure in which an image sensing element is stuck to a scintillator panel having a scintillator formed on a substrate made of aluminum, glass, molten quartz, or the like is available. In this radiation detector, the scintillator converts radiations incident from the substrate side into light, and the image sensing element detects the light (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-21560).
A radiation detector for medical purposes, especially for dental examination, uses low-energy X-rays. If, therefore, an aluminum substrate is used, quite a few X-ray components are absorbed by the substrate. In a radiation detector using low-energy X-rays, therefore, the substrate of the scintillator panel is required to have high radiation transmittance.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a scintillator panel which increases the optical output by using a substrate having high radiation transmittance for the scintillator panel, and a radiation image sensor using the scintillator panel.